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Update on Penn State's search for a new president

July 12, 2013

Update on Penn State's search for a new president

LEMONT FURNACE, Pa. – As she did in May, Penn State Trustee Karen Peetz provided board members with a brief update Friday (July 12) on the University's presidential search, saying that the process continues on a "positive path."

Current University President Rodney Erickson has announced that he will retire no later than June 30, 2014, and the process to name his replacement began in earnest last fall with the naming of several committees. In February, University officials hired the search firm of Isaacson, Miller to assist in the hunt for Penn State's next leader.

"This position, as I have said previously, has attracted a great deal of interest from a pool of very highly qualified individuals," said Peetz, chairwoman of the Trustee Presidential Selection Council. "We certainly have a deep and extensive roster from which to choose."

Peetz indicated that the two groups are melding well and that four members from each group will take a seat on the other group's deliberations and candidate interviews.

"This is a great example of the trustees and the University community working collaboratively toward the common goal of finding the best leadership for Penn State," she said. "We will be refining a slate of candidates for further discussion and consideration and I am confident that those we interview will possess the essential qualifications and strengths we are seeking."

-- A highly developed understanding of academic values and culture and appreciation for scholarly work;

-- A commitment to the importance of undergraduate instruction and education;

-- An astute understanding of university finances, or their equivalent;

-- A commitment to diversity and inclusion; and

-- A demonstrated understanding of fundraising.

The members of the Search and Screen Committee who are part of the process to be undertaken by the Trustee Presidential Selection Council are: Crouter; Daniel Hagen, professor of animal science; David Han, associate professor of surgery and radiology at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center; and Shaun Gabbidon, Distinguished Professor of criminal justice, Penn State Harrisburg.

The four members of the Trustee Presidential Selection Council who deliberate with the Search and Screen Committee are: Keith Masser, chair of the Board of Trustees; Trustee Paul Silvis, Peter Tombros, chairman of Penn State's For the Future campaign, and Peetz.